If the students are shy, then they probably don't feel terribly secureabout offering their opinions up for public consumption. Consequently,generic discussion topics probably won't bring about much in the way ofresults. They may also have come from other teachers who didn't placemuch emphasis on the oral part of communication. If this is the case,then they may need to be "trained" to USE the language! It might helpto have them read aloud a lot at first, so that they get used to thesound of their own voices in the target language and become less anxiousabout their pronunciation. You may also want to give them an"intellectual" explanation as to why you are asking them to do more oralwork all of a sudden, especially if you choose to use the activitiesbelow. Many students don't see the relevance of such activities to thecut and dried grammar they've been studying so far.

PAIRED WORK--I would start with paired activities. Many are readilyavailable from companies like Teacher's Discovery in sets of blacklinemasters which cover a broad range of grammar and vocabulary topics.Students have a very specific task which must be completed by elicitinginformation from a partner. For example, Student A might have a pictureof six different people, three of which have been labeled with names.Student B would have the same picture, but it would be labeled with onlythe names of the other 3 people. Each student would then have todescribe his or her 3 un-named people well enough that the partner couldrecognize the picture in question and provide the missing name. Theidea is that students are given the opportunity to practice the newconcept (in this case, the use of ser with adjectives for example) in atightly controlled situation. Students are not yet being asked toexpress opinions or to do anything else that might make them feelespecially vulnerable in this kind of an activity (except, of coursethat they ARE being asked to speak aloud in a foreign language).

SKITS, PLAYS, and DIALOGUES--As students become more comfortable withthis type of interaction, you can begin to increase the difficulty levelof the tasks they are asked to complete while reducing the amount ofstructure provided. For example, you might ask them to perform playletsor dialogues you provide. (The books Horas Encantadas and Bravo: Songs,Stories and Plays for the Spanish Classroom--not sure about the wordingof that last title--work well for this.) Students divide up the partsand read them aloud--perhaps with sound effects onto a taperecorder--and then listen to their "radio plays" in class.

WRITE OWN PLAYS--The next step would be to ask students to write theirown skits for performance in class which meet certain requirements (morerequirements for more advanced levels):

RESTAURANT--Pretend that you are visiting a restaurant. Get a table,discuss the menu (include at least 3 statements in the presentsubjunctive), order at least one item from each category, engage in"small-talk" while you wait for the food to arrive, comment on the meal,express a problem to the waiter (fly in soup, need another fork, spilledmy water, steak isn't done, etc.), ask for the check, inquire about thetip, pay for the food, say good-bye.

COMMANDS AND CINDERELLA--Pretend that you are a member of Cinderella'sfamily. Create a skit which includes 4 direct commands, 4 indirectcommands, 4 statements of influence, 4 statements of doubt, and 4statements of emotion.

FASHION SHOW--Videotape a fashion show in which you describe at least 10total outfits, use at least 10 different items of clothing, employ atleast 5 double object pronouns, etc.

COMMERCIAL--Make a commercial about a fictitious product that would beavailable in the year 2020.

SOAP OPERA--Videotape a soap opera using 4 direct commands, 4 indirectcommands, 4 statements of doubt, 4 statements of emotion, and 4statements about unknown or non-existent things.

HOW-TO SPEECH--Make a documentary or give a "how-to" speech showing theprocess used by artisans when making bark paintings, clay pots,arpilleras, a traditional food dish, etc.

TALK SHOW--Videotape a talk show in which you interview a famousSpanish-speaking person using at least 10 questions--5 with inversionand 5 tag questions. Your speaker should talk about his or her lifeusing the two past tenses we have learned so far--preterite andimperfect.

SUMMARIES AND DEBATES--They could progress to summarizing articles ornews stories in Spanish (after watching the evening news on Univision),presenting a current event to the class along with an analysis of it, orpresenting arguments for or against a concept being studied inclass--immigration, quotas, affirmative action, human rightsrestrictions, an embargo, etc.

PROBLEM-SOLVING SITUATIONS--Finally, put them in situations whichrequire that they communicate and collaborate in order to complete atask. Seven of you are stranded on an island or on the dark side of themoon or whatever, and you are reviewing a list of the supplies youhave. You must travel to another location because of danger of somekind and cannot take all the supplies with you. Use the target languageto prioritize the list and be prepared to defend your reasons in thetarget language. You might also set it up so that there are onlyenough supplies for 5 people and ask students to determine (in thetarget language) who should be left behind and why (based on thefictional identities each person has been given).

ORGANIZING, RE-TELLING, or RE-CREATING FAIRY TALES--Another activity Iam doing with my IV/V students right now follows:

*Find picture books of fairy tales at garage sales or used book stores.*Cut the words off, mount the pictures on construction paper, andlaminate them.*Shuffle the pictures. (You may wish to number the backs or to keep akey of the original order somewhere).*Divide students into groups of 2.*Give each group a different story and ask them to the correct order ofthe pictures using only the target language. It is helpful to reviewpertinent vocabulary such as ordinal numbers, demonstrative adjectives,etc. before asking them to do this.*Have each group present their version of the story to the class orallyin Spanish.*Compare with the original version.

I have also given the pictures to my students in order and have askedthem to re-tell the story using the appropriate sound effects andvoices.

Another fun one is to ask them to use the pictures to invent acompletely original story which bears little resemblance to theoriginal.

CIRCLE STORIES--When students become REALLY comfortable with thelanguage, you can start stories orally and then ask each student in thecircle to contribute to the story. You may wish to have a time limit orsome other means of "transferring talking time" from one student toanother.

PUPPET SHOWS--Puppet shows are a good way to draw out shy studentsbecause they can "hide" in the puppet theater and can use the puppets todistance themselves from the words--the PUPPETS are doing all thetalking!

COMIC STRIPS--Try having them describe what is happening in a comicstrip in Spanish. This is sometimes easier for them because there arejust a few frames instead of 28 or 30 illustrations to worry about.

SHOW & TELL--Do show and tell--ask them to bring in a picture ofthemselves as children and to discuss what they WERE doing in thepicture. Another popular topic is their favorite toy from childhood:This is a ---. I played with it every day because . . ., I liked itbecause it was soft and I could pretend to . . . One day, it broke and .. . Another option, have them invent a model of something they thinkmight exist in the future and explain what it WILL do in the future andhow it will work.

VIDEO NARRATION--Let them bring in their favorite 5 minute video clip(or supply some for them) and ask them to narrate what is happening withthe sound turned down.

DRAWING--Give them colored chalk and ask them to give one anothercommands that those at the board can carry out: Draw a fruit stand,draw a green dog under the fruit stand, next to the green dog put ahalf-eaten sandwich, etc. until they have a whole scene.

After lots of exposure to such activities, you can finally ask studentsto begin expressing their opinions. Controversial topics work well, ifcarefully introduced, because you can usually spark someone who feelsvery strongly about contemporary issues.

In short, the possibilities are limitless once you get started! Thetrick is creating a non-threatening environment in your room which isconducive to conversation and choosing topics and activities whichcapture their imaginations. Hope this helps!